Merry Christmas!

We lost power on Friday, December 23 about 8 a.m. and didn't get it back until Sunday, December 25, about 2:30 p.m.

So Merry Christmas and I'm sorry I didn't get around to visiting blogs - but I had no internet and I have only a low data plan on my phone!

Merry Christmas, Dear Readers

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all my readers out there. I don't know who many of you are - I know by the numbers you are there, though.

Thank you for spending a few moments of your life with me and my little musings and photos. I greatly appreciate the fact that you are engaged enough to return and that some of you comment. Whether you read only or comment, too, I am humbled by the fact that you are here.

Writing a blog for this long takes a lot of effort. I've been using this particular blog since August 2006, which is a very long time. I don't know how long many of you have been reading but I know that some of you have been commenting for years. It's like a little club of friends I've never met and probably never will meet, but it is nice to know you're out there.

I hope that 2019 is a wonderful year for all of you - for all of us - and that you have all you need to make your life sweet and good.

Be kind to one another; the world needs our gentleness in these hard-hearted days.

Be blessed, and feel loved.

I am very glad you're walking beside me, in whatever form that takes.

A photo from my 2006 Christmas blog.

Testing A Post

This is a test post.

Not exactly a post.

I Got the Blogger Blues

For the last two months or so, my blog has not been working properly.

Neither has many other people's. This apparently came about as something to do with changes made to adhere to European Union requirements or some such. I don't know.

Anyway, it used to be that people would comment on my blog and I'd get an email notification that they'd comment. Unless the blogger comment was a "no reply" comment, I could email the person directly and we could, and frequently did, carry on a conversation between just the two of us.

The emails stopped coming.

The notifications that I have posted a blog have also stopped. I used to receive a notification every time I posted a blog and that was good, because sometimes I prepare these things days in advance and I would set them to post at various days and times. Seeing the email let me know the blog post had appeared as it was supposed to. *Update* A Miracle! This blog post appeared in my email!

None of this stuff works now. I have made all the changes I've found on the blogger forum. Nothing made a difference.

Finally yesterday I left a post on the forum asking for help. So far, nothing, but I honestly don't expect anything different.

I try now to remember to check my blog more frequently for comments, but after over 10 years of receiving email comments it is taking time to make that a habit.

Wordpress in the past did not impress me when I tried it, but it may be time to start looking for another blogging venue. I hate to do that because I really love this blog. I've put vast amounts of time into it and worked hard on it and while it certainly isn't the most-read blog out there, I do have some readers.

Blogger has been easy and worked well. I don't know why big companies always have to mess stuff up and simply can't leave well enough alone. I know change is the only thing you can count on, and this blog is free, so I really can't complain too much. I also know, though, that my blog, like countless others, brings traffic to google and since I have a few google ads on my blog, there is a small bit of cashflow (very small, but still something).

I am not going anywhere - yet. I am trying to learn to live with this particular problem and hoping that it somehow magically fixes itself (sometimes that does happen with technological concerns). In the meantime, if you have experienced this problem and found a fix, feel free to leave it in my comment section.

Hopefully I will remember to check back here and I'll see it, since I am no longer notified of comments.

Poof! There was Smoke.

My modem died a fiery death, complete with wisps of white smoke on Saturday, and I'm just back up and running.

Blogging will resume as soon as I am caught up on other things.

Talk about some hot stuff!  Whew.

Using Photos with Picasa in Blogger (Now that Google no longer supports Picasa)

Google no longer supports Picasa, which I know many of us PC blogger users use to crop, enhance, and post photos.

You can find your old photos on Google photos, supposedly. (However, few of mine are there.)

If you have Picasa already, you can still use the Picasa program to edit and crop your photos, though the program itself will no longer update or have new features. This is how to use the program to upload your photos without going directly through Picasa, but instead saving the photos on your computer and then uploading. There may be other ways to do this, but this is how I do it.

One Way to Use Photos with Blogger in Picasa (now that Google no longer supports Picasa)

1. Open Picasa

2. Find your photo

3. Make whatever artistic/functional changes you need to the photo (straighten, crop, retouch, text, etc.)

4. Go to File (top left)

5. Go to "Export Picture to Folder"

6. Click on "Export Picture to Folder"

7. Choose your "export location" by browsing (I put my in a folder called Blog Pictures, but you can use whatever name you like)

8. Chose the name of the exported folder (by default, it is the date of the photo)

9. Check the image size. You can "use original size" but your pictures will take longer to load. I use "resize to" and in the box I put 640 by sliding the little blue slider to the right in the box. This size allows for decent-sized photos without losing quality, generally.

10. Imagine quality: I leave that on automatic

11. Add a watermark if you so desire.

12. Hit "Export"

13. A window will come up showing you the location of the file folder in your chosen location in #7.

14. Close Picasa.

15. Open your blog.

16. Go to " New Post"

17. In your menu list across the top of the post area, find the little icon for photo (it is right beside the word "link")

18. Click on the photo icon.

19. A box comes up that says "Add Images"

20. Go to "Choose files"

21. Another box comes up. Go to Pictures/[whatever folder you are using] and find your exported photo.

22. Highlight the photo with your mouse (you can do more than one at a time if you wish).

23. The photos will load in the "Add Images" screen.

24. Highlight the images you want by clicking on them. They will have a blue line around them.

25. Hit "add selected"

26. Your photos will be in your blog post.

27. Click on the photo to add a caption or to make them small, large, or original size.

29. Your photos can now be used on your blog.

I hope you find this helpful. If anything is confusing, let me know and I will try to clear it up.

Take That, Amazon

About five years ago, Google/Blogger joined with Amazon and created a way for you to link easily in your blog posts.

I used it for book reviews. I liked having pictures of the book covers on the reviews. Then it went away and if I wanted the picture I had to do some convoluted hunting around on the Amazon Associates site to find what I needed. Sometimes I did that if I really liked a book.

While I have been an Amazon Associate for six years or so, I have not once received any money from this endeavor. It's a good thing I wasn't counting on it to eat or anything.

Every month I receive an email from Amazon Associates telling me that while lots of people received money this month, I was not one of them, and any money in my account under a certain sum would be retained until such time as I implemented appropriate strategies to bring in more revenue.

I have ignored this email for years.

Recently I received a note from Amazon Associates demanding that I upgrade all of my links to a different code. If I didn't, I'd have loads of broken links in my blog that went nowhere. They were no longer servicing older Amazon Associate ads.

So I spent over two hours today going through my blog(s) and removing Amazon ads. I had no desire to implement the changes on every page and it was easier to do away with it.

The good thing is I noted my blog pages loaded faster with each ad removal. The little pictures are gone, but I don't suppose anyone but me cared about that, anyway.

I have no plans to do anything else with my Amazon Associates account. I wasn't using it as a revenue enhancer, anyway.

But I did want to go Phttt to Amazon for making me spend my precious time ridding my blog of their code.

So Phttt to Amazon.

What Do You Use?

I am curious about how people find other's blogs and keep up with them. I apparently am not doing it in a way that makes sense - I have blogs listed in my bookmarks and get to them that way. It's become cumbersome and the only way to check for updates is to visit each blog individually. I need a less limited system.

I have attempted to use AOL's new Reader but have had limited success with it (mostly I forget about it).

So, I was wondering what other PC users do to keep up with all the things they want to read? Google Reader is gone, isn't it, replaced with Google +, which I despise? If you used that, what did you replace it with if you don't like G+? Is there something anyone uses that sits right on the desktop, perhaps?

Also, I wonder what services bloggers are using to promote their blogs - something like networked blogs, blog lovin', or some other thing of which I am unaware.

Any recommendations?

What's Up With IE?

I don't know what is going on with blogger, but now I can't even edit or write a post in Internet Explorer 11. Blogger is the only site I am having issues with, so there is some disconnect. And the problem with my blog extends to every version of IE I have viewed the blog on with my computers at home. It works fine on other browsers.

So what happens? I try to post and I get this error message:

ERROR: Possible problem with your *gwt.xml nodule file. The compile time user.agent value (ie9) does not match the runtime user.agreement value (ie10). Expect more errors.

For a while, I was able to hit "OK" and then go on and post, but now I can't even enter the editor section of blogger. I am using Firefox to create this post.

There is a list of other people with this problem on a google group:
https://groups.google.com/forum/#!topic/public-data-labs/l3BTq_wyDtw
and in other forums.

I have attempted whatever fixes have been suggested but nothing has worked. I feel like I've been trapped in the perpetual war between Google and Microsoft.

If you happen to be a computer genius and have any ideas as to how I might fix this, please share. I am an old school girl and have always used Internet Explorer, though obviously I have and do use other browsers. I just prefer IE. It's all in what you're used to, I suppose.

Captcha Codes

I see that many bloggers still have the crazy new captcha codes on their blogs.

Here is how I eliminated it:

Go to your list of posts/dashboard for your blog.

Find the little gear thing in the top right corner.

Click on it.

Go to "Old Blogger Interface" and click on it.

Wait a minute because it takes a second to revert.

Click on Settings for your blog.

Click on Comments

Click on Show Word Verficiation for Comments and click "NO"

Save

Click on "Try the new Blogger" up at the very top.

It will take you back to your old blog look and you shouldn't lose anything in the process.

Hope this helps.

Comments

Dear Gentle Readers,

As you may have noticed, suddenly you have to type in a captcha code to leave a comment.

Added: *I think I have fixed the issue but if not someone please tell me!*

I didn't do this. Google did. Bad Google. Bad.

I don't have security settings on my account but I can't figure out how to make the captcha code go away. I don't like and I don't want it. I hate the things myself.

I changed from embedded to pop out *and then to full page* but I don't think this fixed the issue.

If you know how to fix this, please endure the captcha code and leave a comment so I can try to get rid of these things.

Of course, if the captcha code has vanished, it'd be nice to know that, too.

Thank you!

Anita aka CountryDew

I Heart My Readers

Dear Gentle Reader,

Whoever you are, you are dear to my heart. I see you there on my statistics page and it is nice to know that I'm not writing in a vacuum.

So Happy Valentine's Day to you, sweet reader. Thank you for taking your precious time to look at my work, to read my thoughts, and to visit for a moment. I am humbled and most grateful.

If you are a regular reader and you have a blog and you're not on my list of blogs and would like to be, do leave your URL. Eventually I'll add you to the list (but be patient with me as my college courses are taking up my time).

Go eat a piece of chocolate, kind reader. You deserve it!

Thanks again,

Anita aka CountryDew

Organize? Organize!

Here's an interesting question for you, dear reader.

How do you keep up with blogs (or favorite websites, for that matter)? Do you simply follow and then read them in a reader such as Google reader?

Do you subscribe to RSS feeds or have them emailed to you, and read them that way?

Do you add them to favorites on your browser? And if so, do you categorize them at all, or just have them all in there willie-nillie?

Perhaps you use Delicious.com or some other method to categorize and decide what to read? If so, what program?

How do you come back to your favorites time after time? What method do you use?

I am curious and looking for new ways to do this. My own methodology works for about 50 blogs but beyond that it grows cumbersome.

Photo editing software

I am curious as to what photo-editing software folks are using, and why you like it.

I lost mine when I purchased a new computer in July; the old won't run on MS Vista.

Please post your recommendations in the comments!

Meet Up Reminder

It's happening soon! The First Ever Bloggers Meet Up in Botetourt County!

Join us on May 7 at 1 p.m. at Bellacino's in Daleville!

Ever wanted to meet the person behind this blog? Or maybe some other local blog?

I will be there and so will The Blue Ridge Gal. I hope that many of you who write the blogs I read regularly will be able to come, also.

We thought it would be fun to get together and meet.Please come, buy yourself a sub or a pizza, and sit down and get to know other bloggers in real life!Bellacino's is located not far from Exit 150 on Interstate 81. Take the north US 220 exit from the interstate and head toward Fincastle.

After you get through the mess at the intersection, go through one more light - there's a Kroger on the left. Bellacino's is on a hill on the right just a little bit beyond that traffic light.If you get to Lord Botetourt High School, you've gone too far.

Hope to see you there.

Mark your calendar

In light of recent interest in a bloggers meet up, I propose May 7 at 1 p.m. at Bellacino's in Daleville.

Bellacino's is easy to get to. It's about a mile or so away from Interstate 81 at Exit 150 on US 220. I can give directions if anyone needs them.

They serve pizza and grinders and the food is good. I'm afraid its buy your own, though.

This is a meet and greet, nothing formal.

We'll meet and talk blogging and local stuff and go from there!

Diane at Blue Ridge Gal says she will be there, too.

I look forward to seeing you!

You like me, you really like me!

Kristen at Hello Sweet World gave me this award a few days ago; in the excitement of thinking I was having a heart attack and having a busy work week, I misplaced it but I did find it again!

I have a hard time deciding who to pass these things on to, because if I read your blog, I like it and I think it's cool. I read a lot of blogs.

But I will follow Kristen's example and give this to three people: June, Blue Ridge Gal (who I know doesn't do awards, but it's yours anyway and I hope it gives you a warm fuzzy), and Tanya.

Thanks for the kudos.

I received an award!

Kristin at Hello Sweet World tagged me for a blog award. I am very grateful and happy to receive it.

It is always nice to be acknowledged. Next time I work on my blog sidebar, which I hope to do soon, I will add it permanently.

I'm not sure what the criteria for this award is, but I will pass it along to some of my favorite reads.

So in the spirit of the new year, I pass this along to:

Becky at Peevish Pen

June at Spatter

Debi at Greener Pastures

Amy at The Virginia Scribe

Ginger at landuvmilknhoney

RoanokeRnR

Many thanks again to Kristin for the award!

Post 700

This is my 700th post, at least, according to the Blogger count, anyway.

I started blogging on August 5, 2006 - just a few days over two years ago, with a post entitled A New Beginning.

I had been blogging for about 18 months on AOL Journals. Then AOL decided to put ads all over everything. They were garish and annoying.

About that time I was interested in learning about Google Ads. Switching over to Blogger to see how that worked seemed like a good way to figure it out.

You do not get rich with ads on a blog, unless perhaps you're the Drudge Report or Huffington Post or something like that. People like me, and probably you, who are just posting and have about as much traffic in a week as a 7-11 convenience store sees in an hour likely aren't going to find ads on a blog very profitable.

I suppose if I wanted to spend time trying to leverage my product (i.e., this blog) so that more folks see it, it could be done, but my work and my interest in keeping my husband happy and my house clean and occasionally playing a video game - living life, you know - tends to preclude spending the hours it would take to "optimize" this thing and morph it into something, I don't know, spectacular, whatever that might be.

I actually began blogging on Blogger in 2003 under another name. My blog posts were unread rants about the war, which I opposed from the start. I am a pacifist at heart. War to me is simply a rich man's chess, a way to keep the proletariat at bay and the money in the proper pockets. Life is sacred and should be revered and honored and no one should die from a bullet in a gun fight even though I know people do all the time.

That's my opinion and I'm sticking to it.

So here's to two years of blogging. Thanks so much to my readers, those I know and those I don't, for sticking with me. I hope you've found something to smile at sometimes and something to think about at other times. If you're new here, I welcome you and am glad you dropped by. This is, for all intents and purposes, my front porch, where I put up my feet and offer you lemonade and conversation.

I do hope it has been and continues to be to your liking.

NOTE TO BLOGGER USERS

If you're having problems accessing your blog this morning, remove Sitemeter. Apparently there is some problem there but once you get rid of the counter your blog will come back up.